Welcome to Hogwarts
by cerasi1
Summary: Sirius, James and Peter welcome a young and nervous Remus Lupin to Hogwarts and Gryffindor, to the tune of friendly laughter.


Welcome to Hogwarts - shortfic

By Cerasi

"Boys. May I come in?" A voice came from the other side of the door and the three young lads jumped in the moment of recognition.

"Professor!" James said, rushing to open the door. Professor Dumbledore stepped calmly in with a knowing smile and a quick glance to where Sirius and Peter sat, not-so-subtly hiding their 'work' in big textbooks. Peter looked nervously about the room and Sirius smiled widely, snapping shut his copy of 'Practical Potions', effectively concealing his tiny copy of 'Hogwart's Forbidden Forest Secrets', pilfered earlier that week from the restricted section.

"Professor, what brings you to the Gryffindor rooms?" Sirius asked, shifting his leg to cover other illegitimate items. "Not that we aren't thrilled to see you, because we are, you know."

"Well, Mr. Black, as a matter of fact, I have come to make introductions." Dumbledore replied, poking his head back out the door for a moment and beckoning to somebody with one of his long hands.

A young, pale boy with honey coloured hair and eyes walked in. He looked frightened, in a way, but not timid, nothing so permanent as that, just nervous. And thin, in his oversized clothes. He stepped in and dipped his head a little, looking around curiously at the three boys.

"This is Remus Lupin, a new student who has been placed in Gryffindor with you boys. I had hoped you three could take care of him for a while, show him to classes and the like, when second term commences." Dumbledore put his hand on the young boy's shoulder and gave the other boys one of those grins again. "I deem you boys to be some of the most… knowledgeable guides around this school, despite your own relatively recent arrival." He winked at them and nudged Remus forward a little.

"New student? In second year…" James asked as he peered around Dumbledore to have a good look at this Remus. "We'd be glad to show him the ropes, Professor."

"I thought you might." Dumbledore said. He then pulled out a small box from one of his pockets and tapped his wand to it. The miniaturized suit case quickly de-miniaturized itself and fell, full-sized, to the ground with a thump. "I'll leave you to get acquainted, then. Have fun."

Dumbledore turned about and walked quickly out of the dorm, pulling the door closed as he went. Remus stood for a moment, quietly awaiting some kind of movement from the other boys in the room. They all stared at him silently for a time, until James stepped towards Remus from his position by the door. He held out his hand and smiled.

"James Potter. James or Jimmy, if you like." He said. Remus quickly grabbed his shoulder bag with his left hand to free his right, and gave that one over to James.

"Remus Lupin." He said rather quietly as he shook James' hand, and then he paused. "Just Remus, I suppose." He smiled tentatively and looked about when James released his hand.

Sirius quickly deposited his book on the ground and jumped up, bounding twice to reach Remus' position.

"Sirius Black." He said with a grin. "You'd be the reason another bed appeared in the room today." He nodded to where the other one was. "Truth be told, we were all a bit confused. We checked it out for Slytherin spies and all, but we restored it to how it was, no harm done. Sorry 'bout that."

Remus nodded. "No, no, you're more than welcome to my bed." He said before thinking. Then he realised. "Oh, I mean… you -- I, uh…"

Sirius and James started laughing hysterically and Peter got up, a smile on his face, and walked over to greet this new, odd boy. Remus was looking worriedly between Sirius and James, both of whom were doubled-over with laughter and leaning on each other for support.

"Ignore them," Peter said, holding out his own hand, "they get like that. You should have seen them when I told them Dumbledore walking by was like wind passing. I still don't really see what the funny thing was…"

Remus smiled a little and shook Peter's hand to the sound of even louder laughter from the other two. He put his shoulder-bag down and moved to take his suit-case over to his bed. Suddenly Sirius stopped laughing and jumped over in front of him.

"Here, I'll take that." He said with a smile. Remus found himself blushing at the sight of the smile, and Sirius assumed he had felt slighted. "A sign of welcoming." He assured the boy. He took the trunk over to the bed and hefted it up, dumping it on the bed with yet another thud.

"So, what brings you to Hogwarts so late in the game?" James asked. He sat himself down on the rug and beckoned Remus over to sit with them. Slightly-by-accident and kind-of-on-purpose he sat right next to where Sirius had been seated a minute ago. He pretended not to notice too much when the other boy returned to his seat, beside Remus.

"I was going to be home-schooled by my mother." Remus explained quietly. "My father's a muggle, and mum didn't want to send me away from dad, because she thought he might not understand."

"But, you're here…" Peter said.

"Yes." Remus nodded and looked at the carpet. "It didn't work, too complicated. In the end I had to come, and Professor Dumbledore saw to it that I was taken in, even though I was late and… and all that stuff."

Sirius leant back against the bed and smiled languidly at Remus. "And now you're here, with a bed right next to mine that I am more than welcome to." He said. James burst out laughing again and Sirius held Remus' gaze as the honey-haired boy went more and more red. "You should laugh, and let all that red out." He said, more quietly. "Go on."

Sirius grinned and jabbed Remus with his foot. Remus hesitated for a moment, and then smiled a little. Sirius grinned at the sight, and Remus smiled some more. At last they were, all four of them, rolling about on the floor in laughter.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Remus Lupin." James laughed, clapping the boy on the back and wiping the tears from his eyes. "Welcome to Hogwarts."


End file.
